the power of their source...the crystal

I had a lovely day, even if it did involve a lot of driving around the city of sin. I spent the morning in my hotel, where I packed up, ate a snacky-style breakfast, and did some work. I eventually grabbed my car and drove to South Park, which I have never, ever been to, to have lunch with Adit. It's nice to know that there are still parts of the city that can surprise me -- and also nice to know that there are parts of the city where I can park right in front of my destination (although I suspect this was a fluke).

Adit and I went to a Japanese place near his office, where I had a v. tasty spicy tuna and rice bowl and he had an egg sandwich that I was v. jealous of. Then we grabbed coffees and walked back to his office, where I had a too-brief run-in with Priyanka. It was nice to get an Adit encore after last night's dinner, and it was also nice to be in San Francisco on a warm, sunny day. I've known Adit for twenty-four years now, and I'm guessing we're going to stay friends??

After we parted ways, I drove back to my hotel to grab my bags, which I did not want to leave in my trunk because I thought it would tempt fate (aka robbers). This was painful, since I had to drive near Moscone during a conference, but I made it and then promptly escaped to the glorious south bay. I briefly went to Stanford, which I had not been to in ages - I didn't have a lot of time to walk around, but I bought a new sweatshirt, which I will wear while Stanford continues its slide into post-Pac-12 ignominy.

Then I checked into my hotel down here, changed quickly, and met up with Joann for a long dinner at Shana Thai. The service was weirdly terrible tonight, but it meant we had a couple of uninterrupted hours to catch up, which was v. welcome. We are on some parallel paths in various ways, but I'm glad that my parallel path doesn't involve working at her current employer (which is my former employer). It was great to hang out, and I could have kept going...

...but instead we parted ways, and I came back to my hotel and did a couple of hours of work in the lobby bar. And now, I'm going to go to bed since I have similarly fun plans tomorrow - goodnight!

polarized feelings, i don't wear them on my face lately

I am sitting in Veronica's guest room (which is technically not her guest room; it's the extra room in her airbnb, which she's staying in because of renovations) in the bay area, down in the peninsula haunts of my youth. Actually, I didn't haunt San Bruno in my real youth, but I did write in San Bruno in my early thirties, so I'm counting that.

Today was lovely, but v. long and I'm v. tired. We had to leave Tahoe today, which made me sad; happily, I drove back Grace and Anne, whom I adore, and it made for excellent conversation. Traffic was really bad getting out of Tahoe due to multiple places where the road was cut to one lane to allow for ongoing cleanup from the fires - it's really quite astonishing that so many houses and town survived given the intense fire damage along the way. So, it took longer to get back than expected, and we certainly weren't pushing it (we stopped for a late lunch, which was v. needed). I dropped Anne off at her place, then took Grace to Barbara's to pick up her car. Happily, Barbara and her husband showed up at the same time that we did, so I got a tour of Barbara's new house (same location as the old house, but I hadn't seen the new version since it got finished just before the pandemic). I'm super sad that our retreat is over, but I'm looking forward to more fun times with the group in the next few months.

When I was done driving + saying goodbye, I drove to Veronica's. I was supposed to just drop stuff here and then head into SF for dinner, but I called an audible and canceled on dinner - I was cutting it way too close, and was too tired, and really just wanted the comfort of Veronica and sweats and a bottle of chablis. So, Veronica and Adam v. graciously pivoted and included me in their dinner prep - we had snacks and talked while Adam cooked, and Adam made us gins and tonics (followed by the aforementioned chablis), along w/v. tasty rice bowls. And we watched some tv and I had retired to my room by ten, which is exactly what I needed. And, as always, Veronica and Adam are a delight, and I'm delighted that I got to spend extra time with them.

And now, I really need to sleep - tomorrow I'm peregrinating around the south bay and seeing a bunch of people I haven't seen in 2+ years, and I'm both v. excited and also already tired. But it should be a great time. Goodnight!

time to raise hell or walk on by

I had a v. nice day, all in all - it certainly could have been terrible, because it was grey and gloomy all day, and my house was slightly too cold and I felt like I should be hunkering down for the cold front that is moving in. But I was determined to not let that overly affect me. Granted, I had to take a nap at three, which I haven't had to do for awhile...and I'm going to doom myself to that again tomorrow if I don't go to bed immediately.

But I woke up in time to meditate and journal a bit, and also read and make coffee, and also wash my hair, so that was all a lot of accomplishment. My coffee is from my beloved Philz in San Francisco, and I had ordered a bag of a darker blend that I used to love - I wasn't loving it so much this week, but then I remembered that I used to get it 'sweet and creamy'. So I added sugar and some heavy cream that I happened to have in the fridge, and suddenly I was transported back to Palo Alto, circa 2009, when I would stop at the Philz there to write at 6pm with an ill-advised nighttime coffee to wait out traffic before heading back to the city of sin. Ah, memories.

However, the sugar probably started a sugar spike/crash cycle that continued all day, since I was craving M&Ms after my nap (I really don't crave sweets). But I had leftover chicken and potatoes at lunch, and for dinner I roasted some excellent green beans to go with the last of my (unfrozen) leftover ham balls and potatoes gratin from last week. Thus properly restored, I did a bunch of stuff this evening, including making a batch of sweet potato hash for breakfast the rest of the week, which will hopefully keep me from sugar crashing the rest of the week. I also finished a writing book that Veronica had recommended (courtesy of Anne) that I thought was excellent, so I'm looking forward to playing with some of those techniques tomorrow.

But if I'm going to do that, I need to go to bed right now - goodnight!

karl malone

I had a fabulous weekend in Santa Cruz + the city of sin, which is dangerous for my endlessly-wandering, never-satisfied soul. My writing class/retreat was really wonderful - the last couple of days were restorative and inspiring in a way that I was really craving, and I hope I carry that with me even though it's back to the grind tomorrow. The teacher (Dani Shapiro) was one of the best writing teachers I've ever heard speak, and the subject (memoir) was something I'm deeply interested in and also deeply avoided. But maybe it's time to stop avoiding.

It was also wonderful to spend a weekend with Veronica, who is one of my favorites - we had a lot to say to each other, and she was the perfect person to have this experience with. It was the perfect blend of 'earnestly engaged with the material' and 'snarkily rolling eyes at everyone else', so we got along swimmingly. We also got massages yesterday, enjoyed some time talking over wine in the cafe, and generally made the most of our weekend away.

The program ended this morning with two hours of work + Q&A, which was pretty illuminating. Then we bounced rather than waiting for lunch to open, so we got back to V's around 1pm. I promptly drove over to Nopalito - when I realized I could have lunch in SF by myself, I considered My Tofu House, Samovar in Yerba Buena, Caffe Union (my true love, but hard to park next to), and a variety of other spots, but I ended up at Nopalito. So I journaled and ate more than I should have just because I never have it, and it was lovely.

Then I drove to the Kabuki, checked in, did an hour of work (a stupid expense report), took a twelve minute nap, got myself ready and went to the lobby. I talked to my parents for a few minutes to verify that they were still alive, and then hung up as Lauren (aka Subz) walked through the door. We only had an hour to catch up but we made great use of that time - it's great to have friends who are always friends, no matter the distance or changes between interactions. Also, she has the best hair in the world (as a slightly sketchy man in the bar told her), so she has that going for her, which is nice.

After she left, I took an uber to Chandlord's, where I made small talk with her roommate (who almost didn't let me in at first) until Chandlord was ready. We went to Rye, where we had a drink, and were shortly joined by John and Jess. We eventually adjourned to Esan Classic, where we met up with Oniel (aka Fauxniel, the surprise special guest who no one knew was coming except for me), Aditya, Santy Claude, and Sam (who needs a nickname at some point). We had a very delightful, very standard Sunday family dinner over a lot of delicious thai food; it was pretty sedate since it's a work night for all of us, Claude is pregnant, and Adit is starting a new job tomorrow. But it was nice to have some family time, even if it was in the heart of the Tenderloin and men were waving iron bars around outside in an ominous and/or drug-fueled manner (note: I chose the location and knew exactly what I was doing when I did it, tanks).

And now, after a v. successful weekend, I need to sleep so I can drive to MTV tomorrow - goodnight!

i think there's a flaw in my code

I'm very tired, but I haven't quite hit the same level of terminal exhaustion that I usually hit on these trips, so I'd say I'm doing a good job of pacing myself. I did have to wake up pretty early this morning - I had an eight am meeting, and also traffic around here is supposed to be terrible due to a work event all week, so I wanted to get out of Jen's house by 7:20ish. That put me on campus at 7:40, which was early enough to grab coffee and say hi to someone before meeting.

Then I sent a couple of emails, grabbed breakfast, and spent allllll day in a design sprint. This involved spending the morning listening to some v. v. interesting lightning talks from other people in adjacent spaces, and then the afternoon designing experiences around the information we learned in the morning. It made for a long day since we had v. few breaks and only thirty minutes for lunch - but it was all really interesting and thought-provoking, and the group was engaged (and also I genuinely adore everyone who was there today), so it was pretty fun overall.

When it was over, a bunch of us went to Cascal for happy hour, which started strong and devolved into a discussion of Game of Thrones (I am the only person in the world who isn't watching it). After I left, I picked up sushi down the street and brought it back so that Jen and I could have supper together. We continued last night's catch-up over sushi, and continued to discuss how old we are, which was probably continue until we turn forty and stop thinking about such things. But still, it's nice that we've been friends for fifteen years - so there are advantages to getting old.

Then I spent the last hour working, since Jen also had to work - and now I'm wrapping up so I can go to bed. Goodnight!

it's all coming back to me now

Today was yet another crazy day - I was going to say that my brain finally reached its melting point, but it perhaps reached boiling point instead, since I felt like everything was turning to mist and disappearing into the ether. I woke up at six, after not enough sleep, and was out of my hotel and in the SF office by 7:30, where I managed to get some stuff done before starting meetings at nine. Most of my meetings were okay (although at some point my face was so annoyed-looking that someone laughed at me), and I had time for a quick lunch with Alice and Chris, so I guess it could be worse. I also had four iced coffees, which kept me awake but may have contributed to the feeling of disintegration...

...but I managed to leave around 2:30 to come to Santa Cruz with Grace. She met me at my office and we grabbed snacks before heading south, which was probably a critical mistake - by the time we actually got out of the garage, traffic was horrible, and it took like forty minutes just to get to the freeway. So, the drive to Santa Cruz took over two hours, and it's a good thing that I was the one driving (even though I felt like my brain was oozing out of my ears) since Grace doesn't know the east side of the city from the west side of the city (I shouldn't publicize that, but I want to remember it because she was shocked when we were suddenly in Daly City and I found that to be incredibly funny).

When we got here, I simply had to lie down for ten minutes because I couldn't function anymore, and that was just enough to revive me and get me out the door. We are here for a writing workshop with Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed, so we went to the center (which is gorgeous), checked in, had supper (mindfully, of course), and then listened to their evening talk. It was really good and really entertaining, especially since they're well-spoken and have a great connection, but it was a bit annoying (really annoying) that they made several derogatory comments about romance novels (which of course Grace and I angrily debriefed about later). Also, the crowd is exactly what you would expect - a lot of white women, 30-55, bougie enough to afford to spend several hundred dollars (on registration, not counting flights/hotel/food) listening to two other bougie white women talk about #livingyourbest life. But I'm probably going to get a book out of this experience, so no regrets.

But now I need to go to bed immediately - goodnight!

tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass

I'm still living the dream - lucky me. Today was a v. long day of trainings (especially long because I did this exact training four months ago and they decided to repeat it, which was a little tiresome). But I survived, did a bit of work after, and then had dinner with Joann and Jen (of friendship renewal and spinster honeymoon fame). I hadn't seen them in ages, so that was a lovely way to take a break.

Then I came back to my corporate apartment and worked for the last couple of hours, which felt supremely unfortunate - but I survived, and now it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

this is the remix

I somehow only got six hours of sleep again last night...I am slowly dying here. And tonight isn't going to be any better - I have to pack, sleep, shower, and leave super early to drive to Mountain View in time to give a nine a.m. presentation (which I probably still need to put another 30min of work into).

But tomorrow I have two meetings, and then I drive to the airport and fly business class to Paris, so things could be worse, amirite? Granted, one meeting is a presentation to my boss that I'm not ready for, and one is my team meeting (which I'm also not ready for). But then it's all smooth sailing.

So yeah, today was painful in some ways (lots of fires), but good in others (lots of 1:1 conversations with people whom I adore). Then I picked up a rental car and made the mistake of driving to Burlingame at rush hour - it wasn't a mistake to see Barbara and Anne, since I've been feeling seriously in need of some writer friend time to remind me that there is more to my life than presentations, but it was a mistake to try to go anywhere at rush hour. We had a relatively quick dinner at Limon, where I had some totally awesome empanadas and a glass of wine that wasn't enough to fix my woes (although the amount of wine necessary to fix my woes would have rendered me unable to drive, let alone able to finish the work I had to do tonight).

When we were done, I drove back to the city of sin, and I sat in the lobby for the last hour working on the presentation because I knew I would just go to sleep if I tried to work on my bed. But I'm done for now, so it's time to throw stuff in a suitcase and go to bed - goodnight!

you look like my next mistake

I'm really too tired to do today justice. I slept longer last night than any previous night for a couple of weeks - but that was enough to kick my body out of flight/or/flight mode, so I was a little lethargic getting ready (especially since I had to check out of my Mountain View hotel).

But it was all good - I had a couple of meetings, then had lunch with Tomas (who I worked with a few years ago; we shared a cube and a trip to Germany). I usually don't see old coworker friends because they all are scattered across a campus that is now miles long, but I made a point of clearing my calendar so I could go to his building in the afternoon and see him in person.

It's a bit weird going to those buildings right now - the light and feel is v. remimiscent of building connections like I did years ago, especially since I was in the building where I sat for the first six months oh so many years ago. But I made it through all the nostalgia, had an awesome lunch with Tomas, had a couple of meetings, said a too-brief hello to Joann, and met up with Eugene - so all in all it was great.

Then I drove to Belmont, where I hung out with the Shedletskys...and then I came to SF, checked into my hotel, and had dinner with Adit and Priyanka at Heirloom Cafe. It was super tasty, and the company in both cases was excellent...but you don't get any more because I'm falling asleep as I type. Goodnight!

i fell in love with the sparkle in the moonlight

I'm really tired - after staying up way too late last night, I woke up with a sore throat and a cranky mood. This wasn't helped by having meetings all day...and I ended up canceling on the Shedletskys. I was supposed to have dinner with them, but I wasn't feeling well all day, and the idea of driving up to Belmont in the rain after a day of exhaustion filled me with dread and a sneaking suspicion that I would fall asleep and die on the drive.

However, I did sneak out of the office for a bit to have a drink with someone whose departure from the team is imminent. When I came back to the hotel, I collapsed and took a nap, then packed my stuff and did a bit of work (nothing too difficult, since I can't handle difficulty right now). But now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i've got two left feet and a bottle of red wine

Today was pretty great, all in all, but I'm totally tapped out and need to go to bed immediately if I want to recover before tomorrow. I woke up v. early in SF, showered, threw my stuff in my bag, and left the hotel around 6:40 so that I could get to Mountain View before traffic was awful. It took me an hour and a half to get there, but that was better than it could have been, I guess. When I got to work, I put on my makeup and blow dried my hair, and then had time to eat breakfast before my day-long meeting began.

The meeting was great, all in all - it involved brainstorming and designing, which is my favorite kind of meeting. I also ate a v. weird whole30-approved salad while watching teammates use the company bowling lane, which was peak silicon valley. Then we went straight until 5:30 without a break, so I was exhausted by the end...

...but I still managed to drive to San Carlos to have a v. delightful dinner with Barbara, Anne, and Veronica. We went to West Park Bistro - the food was really tasty, but the service was super slow and a little spotty (they never cleared the last of our plates), but the slow service gave us an excuse to linger and talk to each other, so that was a good thing. It was really nice to catch up with my writer friends, and it was also nice to have a chance to talk for real - Veronica's birthday party in December was also a total blast, but it wasn't quite as conducive to conversation as the restaurant was.

But all good things come to an end, so I drove to Mountain View and checked into my hotel and unpacked, etc. And now I'm going to sleep so that I can get eight hours and hopefully restore my balance/sanity (or at least immune system) - goodnight!

hold back the river let me look in your eyes

Apologies for not blogging last night. I've had a v. eventful couple of days in my old hometown, starting with brunch with Heather (aka dear respected madam) yesterday, which was a perfect way to end my time with her. Then I drove from San Jose to Marin to see Grace - Grace is one of my favorite writerly people, and while our time together was all too brief, we enjoyed some delightful conversation over tea next to a (nonfunctioning) fire pit at a store near her house.

Then I drove back to the city of sin and had a v. perfect (for me) night - I actually gave myself a night off from the social whirl, went to Gardenias (v. near my hotel, and a place I'm v. familiar with) and had a pork chop and three glasses of wine while journaling for a v. long time. No, wine isn't whole30 approved - I've decided that while I'm traveling the whole30 thing is v. difficult, but I'm being v. strict on grains and sugar and mostly strict where possible on the rest of the weird restrictions. And if this is the last time I'll be in SF for awhile, my soul craved one of my favorite kind of nights - holed up at the bar of a nice restaurant, watching the wait staff execute their carefully orchestrated dance while sipping wine and writing in my journal.

It was #worthit, but when I came to my hotel I was so tired that I fell into bed without even taking my contacts out, let alone washing off my makeup. Oops. I didn't sleep all that well, no doubt impeded even more by the guy outside at 4am who was either high or mentally ill (or both) and kept screaming about killing someone and stabbing them in the eyes. Since I'm on the sixth floor, it's clear this guy was really going for his verbal threats, even though I heard nothing to indicate that he was talking to anyone but himself.

Today was super fun, all in all. I got up earlier than I wanted to to move my car, which was made slightly more interesting by the dead bat on my windshield (I did not touch it, obvi, since rabies is not my jam). Then I showered and drove to the dirty east bay to have brunch with John and Jess. I was going to make it clear that I am in it for John and Jess instead of Saul's (which is not entirely true), but since Jess made it clear immediately that she was there to eat my bagel (which comes with my order even though I can't eat it), I think all pretenses of friendship are over.

sssanyway. We had a delightful breakfast (don't call it lunch), and then they went home to retrieve the baby from the nanny and I got my nails done in a rather impromptu fashion. Then I drove back to the evil city and went to the marina for awhile, where I sat/watched the water/journaled/wandered around Fort Mason and bought a stupidly expensive $6 juice.

Then I went to visit Lauren (aka Subz) - we had tea and sympathy at a cafe near her house, and it was perfect. I, of course, wish that we had more time, but child duties called. But I'm glad we're still friends almost thirteen years after living together in India (and almost sixteen years after I went to Berlin with her now-husband), and it's always great to hang out with her.

Then I went to my old haunt at Morning Due and had a snack and journaled some more before meeting up with Adit (no one calls him the cat) at Schmidt's, where we had heated mulled wine and conversation until we both had to rendezvous with our other plans. In my case, that meant picking up Vidya (aka Chandlord) and dragging her to the Marina so we could eat at Bistro Aix (one of my old faves). I had the chicken and we split the burrata (ooops, dairy, but #sarasnotsorry).

But now I really need to sleep since I have to get up in seven hours - goodnight!

i feel it coming

I know I often say I'm beyond tired, but tonight I really mean it. I woke up at 5:45 this morning so that I could beat traffic to the south bay, and I was successful - even if it meant taking my makeup and my hair dryer with me, since every minute I spent in SF this morning would make my commute about two minutes longer later. Leaving that early meant I successfully reached Mountain View in an hour (unheard of) - but it also meant that I'm wrecked.

I then had work allllll day, as I do (although I wrote for about twenty minutes this morning). By six I was definitely done, so I went to a different, fancier building on campus, where I ate dinner and wrote for two hours while waiting for traffic to die down. Then I drove back to the city and wrote from 9:45 until now - but I finished a short story I was trying to write and sent it off to the blogger who asked me for it, and now at least that's over.

And now I'm going to sleep - I blocked off part of my morning, which means I might actually get eight (or nine, if I'm greedy and willing to be late to something) hours of sleep. Goodnight!

not a yes sir, not a follower

I should close my laptop and go to bed - I got back to my room around 8pm and have been working steadily since then to try to catch up on stuff that is slipping through the cracks of my packed calendar. Today was good, though; I made it to the office (after a bit of a scare on the freeway when the back window on my ridiculously oversized Tahoe came open without me seeming to have done anything to open it), had breakfast, and then sat in summit sessions all day.

But it wasn't that onerous - we had an hour and a half for lunch (which gave me time to change into a Snow White dress and a panda head - don't ask, it was v. professional), and a happy hour from three to five, so it could have been worse. Then I ended up having dinner in downtown Sunnyvale with Christine (from Boulder) and Marty (from Dublin) and his wife (also, obvi, from Dublin). But I'm glad dinner ended early, since I needed some time to myself (with my laptop, my steady companion).

And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

leave her with a baby sitter, mama, call the grave digger

I'm suuuuuper tired, and also cold since I'd set my house temp to 58 degrees when I left and it's not fully warmed up again...but I'm back in Colorado, and so things are good. I got a solid eight hours of sleep last night, then showered, packed all my stuff, and checked out of my hotel. Luckily, between the fact that everyone in the bay area now works from home on Fridays and that it was also Veterans Day, the drive to the office only took twenty minutes, which was less than half the time it had been taking all week.

When I got to the office, you can probably guess what happened - yes, I had meetings all day. I forgot to block off time for lunch, so I had to be eight minutes late to one of them so I could grab food, but it could have been worse. I was done by 3ish, and so I left for the airport a bit early, which gave me time to eat and have a glass of wine and answer some emails while waiting for my flight.

The flight itself was uneventful - I slept most of the way and we got here twenty minutes early, which was about as good as it gets. I took a lyft to Katie's house, but I didn't see her - I'd left my car there, so I had to pick it up and drive to Boulder.

But now, I have the whole weekend stretching ahead of me and lots of things that I want to accomplish - starting with sleeping for eleven hours. Goodnight!

i'm a rebel just for kicks

I was so exhausted today that there was a point where I thought I might faint. This was, of course, my own damn fault - I stayed up until 3:30am and woke up at 8:30 confused about why I was still alive instead of blissfully freed from my suffering. I know I said too much wine last night, but I wasn't even that inebriated - five glasses over eight hours is not a big deal, but it is when you also don't have enough food or water or sleep.

However, it was all worth it - I stayed up so late talking to people at this conference that I was attending, and it was great to network and get to know them (and all the other corporate words I've started using again). But today was rough. It didn't help that I got a flu shot yesterday, so I wonder if some of my weakness/fainting feeling was related to that. Either way, the fact that I had meetings straight from 11am to 5:30pm without a break was supremely unwelcome, and it took way more energy than it should have to get through them all.

But then I skedaddled (slowly) and drove up to San Carlos to have dinner with Anne and Barbara. It's not very far from Mountain View, but it still took an hour because the whole Bay Area is a total dystopian nightmare. However, our friendship is worth the pain - we had a lovely dinner at Vivace (which Shedletsky had introduced me to), and my gluten free pasta went a long way toward restoring my vitality. Barbara and Anne were in fine form, and it was great to take a break from work and talk about my other work (not that I'm writing at the moment, but I think things will quiet down a little at work after this and I'll hopefully be able to get back into it all).

When dinner was over, I drove to my hotel (farther from San Carlos than the office is, but the trip back only took 25mins), messed around on the internet, sent a few vital work emails, etc. And now I'm going to sleep - I have to get up and pack and vacate my room tomorrow, so wish me luck with that. Goodnight!

eye of the tiger

Today went about as well as it could have gone, I think - my presentation (to three hundred people!) went pretty well, or at least well enough that my boss and team were pretty complimentary after, so that was good news. And I didn't introduce myself as Sara Ramsey by accident, so that was even better.

I also sat through presentations all day, and when I wasn't watching presentations, I was talking...and talking...and talking. Today's conference time ended with a dinner/mingle situation, at which I continued to talk to people, and I didn't get back to my hotel until almost ten p.m.

So, needless to say, I really need to sleep and unwind for a bit - so that's all you're getting tonight. Goodnight!

i hear the drums echoing tonight

I need to go to bed immediately - I have a couple of long days ahead and not nearly enough sleep stockpiled in my reserves to get me through. But today was good, although my brain is definitely fogged over with jetlag - which doesn't bode well for the presentation I have to give tomorrow, but hopefully adrenaline and caffeine will fix what ails me.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and was promptly late to my 9am meeting because it took 45min to get to the office instead of 20min (this is why I moved to Colorado, not that you would know that I've moved to Colorado since I'm never there). I had meetings literally all day, although one of them was a lunch meeting, so I got to eat, which I guess was a bonus.

However, it wasn't thaaaat bad - I successfully got out of the office at 3:30pm (with two coworkers in tow) and drove back to my hotel, where I registered for the conference that I'm attending. Then I snuck away from the throngs of people so that I could manage my jetlagged energy - I got an impromptu mani/pedi to make myself feel more like a well-groomed member of society, and then I spent the evening holed up in my room, eating room service and running through my preso and catching up on various and sundry tasks (like updating linkedin, which I hadn't updated in seven years, but I figured there was no time like the night before a public talk to make it happen).

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

lay your weary head to rest

I don't feel like blogging tonight - I really need to go to bed right now if I want to get eight hours of sleep tonight (which is a v. necessary endeavor). I did get lots of sleep last night, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the post-India haze. When I woke up this morning, I had to shower, pack, and get out of my hotel - and I should have just come straight south to take care of tings. But I had a quick coffee/chat with Chandlord in lieu of brunch, and then I grabbed some pens at my favorite stationery store (my hotel was two blocks from it, so it's almost like I couldn't justify *not* stopping, amirite?), and then I grabbed my bags from the hotel and took a lyft to SFO, where I picked up a rental car for my upcoming week.

Then I drove to the glorious south bay, where I grabbed some coffee at Philz and did some not-so-glorious laundry at my office (India and planes wrought havoc on my jeans). I also talked to my parents while doing laundry, which was a good break. Then I checked into my hotel and was only nine minutes late to dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam). We went to a v. old American style place (steak and potatoes, as opposed to new American, which is all about organic chicken and pureed celery root and kale and other abominations), and it was totally delish - my ribeye was great, and Heather had some of the best ribs I've tasted in awhile, and now my hair smells like barbecue and my stomach is happy.

Of course, my soul is quite delighted too - it's always good to see Heather, and we spent 2.5 hours together, which is never enough but was at least a good attempt at getting caught up. Then I came back to my hotel and actually unpacked, and now I must sleep - goodnight!

it's the sun that burns, it's the wheel that turns

It smells like death in Northern California - which is more accurate than I would wish to be, since the particulates in the air and the grim haze that hangs over our heads come from thousands of homes and an unknown number of lives lost. I'm a hundred miles from the fires, but the winds that are fanning the flames are also carrying the smoke south, so strongly that by this afternoon, even the inside of my well-insulated, well-purified office building smelled like a campfire. 2017 was already feeling apocalyptic, but adding visible death to the air certainly hasn't helped things.

sssanyway. I've stopped checking my favorite wineries' facebook pages for updates, since it's useless, superfluous, and also so fucking elite to care about the wineries at this point. But I've had so many great times in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino, and I hope enough survives that they can bounce back quickly....

sssanyway again. I had a long day that was completely full of meetings - I had fifteen free minutes from 9:00 to 4:30, which, it turns out, is not enough time to actually do any work. But my meetings were good, etc. After my calendar freed me from my bonds, I sat around and did actual work for a couple of hours, and then I adjourned to Shana Thai, where I had a solo date with some pad see ew and my bullet journal. This one is my work version, which is not nearly as colorful (yet - I'm waiting to show them the full extent of my madness) - but I went through my first few weeks' worth of notes and migrated important things forward, which really helped me to clarify my thoughts and priorities.

Yes, I've fallen headlong back into corporate whoredom. I expect this will die down once I get settled in Boulder and can develop more of a personal routine/life, but for now, I'm weirdly enjoying it.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!